This aspect of modern living is great.
Not so long ago, paying bills was about writing cheques (remember them?) and sending them off in the mail, hoping they would arrive before the penalty cut-off date.
Relicensing a car meant standing in a queue and wasting many a lunch break.
The digital age has also delivered immense benefits for companies, particularly big ones with large customer bases.
In the case of banks, the fact that they don’t need to have so much money tied up in brick-and-mortar facilities has been hugely beneficial.
This has helped banks become far more profitable than they once were.
They simply don’t have the same overheads that they used to, and those cost savings have gone straight to the bottom line.
This is progress, and profit is not a dirty word.
However, there is a flip side.
While it is true that a good many of life’s mundane issues can be resolved by digital means, that’s not to say absolutely everything can be dealt with by an automated digital response or by pushing one through to four on your cellphone.
Situations can get messy, and people – particularly the elderly – can get into terrible tangles when dealing with big organisations.
This is why companies need to ensure customers can at least talk to a human being when things go pear-shaped.
This should not mean having to wait several minutes, or sometimes hours, to be attended to.
Air New Zealand has been a serial offender in this area, but the airline can be congratulated for attempting to lift its game through a new deal with an Australian call centre company operating out of the Philippines.
Improving customer service by having more humans on the end of the line will cost money, but compared with the huge cost savings that technology has brought, it’s a small price to pay.
Much can be achieved through automation, but large organisations need to be better attuned to people’s needs.
This means having the systems and people in place to accommodate those customers with non-standard issues - the ones the software designers didn’t think of.
The time has come for big business, in recognising the benefits that technology has brought them and their shareholders, to improve their customer service.
In this age, paying customers should not be left to wait endlessly for attention.
It is clear business has reaped a huge dividend from vastly improved digital technology.
The time has now come for customers to enjoy a commensurate lift in service standards.
Perhaps interminable waits will then go the same way as the chequebook.
